Plan could help fisheries, water supply

The salt marsh harvest mouse is a federally listed species that is affected by the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta.

The salt marsh harvest mouse is a federally listed species that is...

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is proposed as a comprehensive approach to ecosystem restoration for the West Coast's largest estuary and water supply reliability for much of California that features large-scale habitat restoration and new water conveyance tunnels.

It is an attempt to break what has become a familiar cycle to Californians of conflict between fish populations and water supplies. Within the more than 20,000 pages of planning and review now available are scientifically sound ecological and natural resources conservation concepts that you need to know.

Rather than managing the delta ecosystem by trying to prevent extinction of fish one species at a time, one crisis at a time, with one tool (less pumping out of the delta), we might be able to design a plan that can restore the entire ecosystem by using many tools and taking a more proactive, long-term approach.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife believes the right approach is to shape the plan into the best proposal possible, evaluate and consider reasonable alternatives, and then decide whether to go forward.

Ask yourself:

Would it be better to manage the delta species by species, or for entire ecosystems, including 57 species of fish, mammals, birds and other wildlife?

Would it be better to set a goal of preventing extinction, or to set a higher bar that provides for conservation of each of those species?

Would it be better to continue restoring habitat in piecemeal fashion, or should we attempt landscape-level restoration of the largest estuary on the West Coast?

At a time when our state's water supply and ecological systems are crying out for major overhaul, bold ideas and concepts are needed. The plan proposes to conserve 57 species through 22 conservation measures. As drafted, it keeps water exports within a range near to what they are now, which is down from recent years. It includes substantial habitat restoration and other components to serve as a bulwark against the effects of a warming climate.

A couple of state laws are important here:

The first is the 2009 Delta Reform Act, which requires the plan to set "co-equal" goals of restoring the delta ecosystem and providing a reliable water supply. For the delta ecosystem, this is an upgrade.

The second is the Natural Community Conservation Planning Act. The Bay Delta plan must demonstrate it can meet the standard set by that law. If the plan does, it may move forward. If it does not, it will not. That determination has not yet been made.

Under state and federal endangered species laws, delta water projects must avoid jeopardizing fish with extinction. Under the state law, impacts must also be fully mitigated.

But under the conservation planning act, the plan must meet the higher standards of providing for the conservation and management of those 57 species. To do so, the Bay Delta plan proposes 214 specific biological goals and objectives that are part of a comprehensive, landscape-scale restoration plan. The plan must be guided by the best available science, subject to a comprehensive adaptive management strategy. The measures the parties commit to must also be adequately funded to ensure they actually occur.

This is cutting edge.

This is also controversial.

Why? The centerpiece of the plan is a proposed new point of diversion in the north delta. There are concerns this change will affect fisheries, delta communities and water quality. These concerns cannot be ignored.

From a fisheries perspective, however, we have known for a half-century that as long as we are taking water from the delta, it is far better to do so from the north than from the south. Our department went to the American Fisheries Society in 1964 and appeared in the Legislature in the years before and after to make this point. Diversions in the south delta are disruptive to natural flow patterns and confusing to fish. The configuration of the south delta system today is a dead end. Two out of three fish that get trapped there die.

Planning efforts for the Bay Delta plan have been receptive to constructive criticism. Seven years ago, the proposal was to build a canal between two massive levees around the delta. Someone had a better idea and the aqueduct was moved underground to become a pair of tunnels.

Last year, in response to criticisms from state and federal fisheries agencies, including our department, the plan was downsized from five intakes to three, a 40 percent reduction in capacity. There have been countless other modifications, all of them due to better ideas. The refinements and modifications continue.

Now is the time for constructive and thoughtful input. Our department is engaged and doing just that. Each of us as citizens of this great state deserves fair and intelligent discourse on this subject. The outcome is too important to accept anything less.

To learn more

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan includes 20,000 pages of scientific and planning documents.